What makes a brand manager effective?

Brands have become increasingly important as a foundation for competitive strategy. Unfortunately, although brand managers are responsible for brand strategy development and execution, little is known about what makes a brand manager effective. A model is developed to understand what intangible capital embodied by brand managers influences brand management capabilities and resultant brand performance. Measures of brand manager intangible capital and brand management capabilities are developed through an iterative scale development process. Hypothesis testing, derived from a survey of brand managers, indicates that brand manager human, relational and informational capital influences brand management capabilities and resultant brand performance, and brand manager intangible capital has an indirect effect on brand performance via brand management capabilities. By delineating and operationalizing the intangible capital and capabilities of brand managers, this study provides a theoretical and empirical foundation for future research on brand managers, tools for assessing current brand manager capital and capabilities, and guidance in relation to intangible capital and capabilities needed by brand managers.     

What is Differentiation and How Does it Work ?

In this article we provide a basic review of the relationship between differentiation and profitability. In particular we address the misconception that the reward of differentiation must be a price premium. We conclude with the following:

Differentiation is when a firm/brand outperforms rival brands in the provision of a feature(s) such that it faces reduced sensitivity for other features (or one feature). Through not having to provide these other features the firm has an avenue to save costs. The firm benefits from the reduced sensitivity in terms of reduced directness of competition allowing it to capture a greater proportion of the value created by exchange.

We observe that real world differentiation is a pervasive feature of modern markets, but seems to be largely due differences in distribution and awareness, and occasionally design. Brand level differentiation on functional features is less common due to competitive matching.     

The promise of a decentralized internet: What is Web3 and how can firms prepare?

What is Web3, and what does it mean for established companies? Web3 describes a broad range of emerging internet applications for blockchain technology (i.e., a decentralized, public database that allows information to be securely recorded on a network of computers rather than verified and controlled by centralized entities). Central to this evolution of the internet are four distinct blockchain-enabled applications: fungible tokens (cryptocurrencies), nonfungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and metaverses. In this article, we define each of these applications and discuss their capacity to increase peer-to-peer interactions, decrease large companies’ control of information and services, and facilitate access to user networks at a much lower cost than currently possible. These distinctions make Web3 both a natural evolution of Web 2.0 and a broader paradigm shift that may fundamentally alter the online interface, organizational structure, and business practices. We conclude by addressing how established companies can prepare for a more decentralized internet.     

What is in it for Me? Middle Manager Behavioral Integrity and Performance

We propose that middle managers’ perceived organizational support enhances their performance through the sequential mediation of their behavioral integrity and follower organizational citizenship behaviors. We test our model with data collected from middle managers, their direct subordinates, and their direct superiors at 18 hotel properties in China. The current study’s findings contribute to the existing literature on perceived organizational support and behavioral integrity. They also add a practical self-interest argument for middle managers’ efforts to maintain their word-action alignment by demonstrating that middle manager behavioral integrity positively affects middle managers’ own task performance ratings, both directly and via its positive effect on subordinates’ organizational citizenship behaviors.     

What is the potential growth rate of the U.S. economy,and how might policy affect it?

The answer to the question “What will future potential growth be?” is as important as it is unknowable. This paper attempts to predict future U.S. potential output growth by combining what is unknown (future productivity growth, the performance of the labor market) with what is known (the evolution of the age structure of the population). It does so in two ways. First, this paper uses the historical experience of potential labor productivity growth, labor force participation, and weekly hours to simulate a range of outcomes for future potential growth—finding a 90% confidence interval that ranges from 0.7% annual growth to 3.0% annual growth, centered by construction around the Congressional Budget Office projection of 1.8% annual growth. Second, the paper examines a range of specific economic policies that the Trump Administration might pursue in terms of their impact on economic growth both in the short run and over the next decade—finding that an outer bound of these policies could be plus or minus 0.5 percentage point on the annual growth rate, but that these policies would most likely subtract a small amount from growth.     

Knowing how to use and understand recipes: What arithmetical understanding is needed when students with mild intellectual disabilities use recipes in practical cooking lessons in Home Economics?

The aim of this study was to explore what arithmetical understanding is needed when students with mild intellectual disabilities use recipes during practical cooking lessons in Home Economics. The settings were compulsory schools in Sweden attended by students with intellectual disabilities. Sixteen lessons in Home Economics during which cooking took place were observed. In total, 37 students and three teachers participated. All students had a mild intellectual disability. Their ages varied, but most were between 13 and 14 years old. The sociocultural perspective on learning, combined with a literacy framework, was used as a theoretical foundation for the study. Main findings are that students need an arithmetical understanding of (i) how to interpret numbers, (ii) how to interpret and use units, and (iii) how to compute when using recipes. The knowledge and skills needed to be able to use a recipe are featured in the concept recipe literacy, capturing both theoretical, declarative knowledge and the more practical, procedural knowledge. Recipe literacy can be used to theorize the use of recipes when learning to cook, as in Home Economics.     

Predicting satisfaction and intentions to use online food delivery: What really makes a difference?

ABSTRACT

Online food delivery (OFD) is no longer a new concept for the majority of Americans. Large food delivery companies make millions in revenues and those numbers are expected to increase. This study was conducted to investigate customer intentions to use OFD services through the evaluation of satisfaction, food quality, and OFD service quality. The OFD service quality was assessed via e-SELFQUAL dimensions, and included perceived control, service convenience, customer service, and service fulfillment. The study determined that food quality, control, customer service, and service fulfillment affect customer satisfaction in online food delivery services. Customer satisfaction showed a strong positive impact on behavioral intentions to use OFD.     

What is the Difference Between a Five-star and a Six or Sevenstar Hotel?

In 2006 I outlined the new national star- rating system for UK Hotels,which ranges from one-star basic to five-star plush.In another article I quoted an hotel owner in the south of England,who said that the new system was a waste of time,because it did not align itself with the international system.So,she increased facilities and     

Close to the customer: But is it really a relationship?

Everyone is developing relationships. Customers are being invited to have relationships with telephone companies, banks, auto dealers, airlines, and other suppliers of products and services. Relationship marketing is being touted as an effective strategy to guide companies into the next millennium. Recently there has been widespread reference to relationship marketing in the popular literature, and the concept has been embraced by many companies and organizations. There is little consensus, however, on what the concept means and even less consistency in how it is practised. What is relationship marketing? Practising marketers and articles in the trade press use the term in one way, while authors in academic journals seem often to be referring to something quite different. This paper reviews how the concept has been viewed by marketing authors and draws from social psychology to shed light on the characteristics of relationships. Some insights are drawn from a preliminary analysis of the results of focus group interviews that suggest how consumers describe their relationships with businesses.     

Inequality in Europe: What can be done? What should be done?

As economic inequality in Europe has continued to rise, it has become the subject of increasing academic attention. What are the drivers of inequality? How does it affect intergenerational economic and social mobility? At what point does inequality become a drag on economic growth or a threat to social order? What economic policy tools are available to reduce inequality? This Forum addresses these and other aspects of this complex and disturbing trend. Case studies of Ireland, Germany and Spain also highlight the impact of economic inequality on individual member states.     

Perspectives: client–agency opportunism: how does it happen and what can we do about it?

Abstract

While it is seldom spoken about openly, opportunism always prevails in client–agency relationships and could lead to their demise. This study directs attention to client–agency opportunism by describing how it happens and ends with a discussion on how today’s client–agency dynamics can be improved.     

The open academic: Why and how business academics should use social media to be more ‘open’ and impactful

The mission of Business Horizons is to publish research that practitioners can understand to help them change their thoughts and actions. However, this mission remains an elusive ideal for many business school academics as they struggle to overcome the research-practice gap. To help scholars bridge this gap, we present social media as a boundary-spanning technology to be open to connecting with, learning from and working with academics and other stakeholders outside their field. Social media can be used as a boundary-spanning technology to help bridge the research-practice gap. To support this idea, we present a process model of five research activities—networking, framing, investigating, disseminating, and assessing—and describe how social media can make each activity more open. We present a framework of four social media-enabled open academic approaches—connector, observer, promoter, and influencer—and outline some do’s and don’ts for engaging in each approach. We also discuss the potential dark side of openness through social media and offer some coping strategies. As per the mission and scope of Business Horizons, this article aims to help business academics rethink and change their practices so that our profession is more widely regarded for how our research positively impacts business practice and society in general.     

Replacement versus Historical Cost Profit Rates: What is the Difference? When Does it Matter?

This paper explains the Bureau of Economic Analysis methodology for computing historical cost and replacement cost measures of the net stock of capital in the US economy. It is demonstrated that there exists a threshold rate of inflation in the price of capital goods that keeps the percentage difference between the two capital stock measures constant. Hence, over periods when average inflation in the price index for capital goods is equal to the threshold value, historical cost and replacement cost profit rates would show equal percentage changes; an example of such a period for the US economy is 1946–2010.     

What do Airbnb hosts reveal by posting photographs online and how does it affect their perceived trustworthiness?

The use of sellers' personal photographs online is ubiquitous in sharing economy platforms such as Airbnb. This paper addresses two questions. First, what type of personal photos do hosts choose to post on Airbnb? Second, which of the characteristics of their photos affects their perceived trustworthiness? We answer these questions by building a structural equation model of the relation between the characteristics of the photos and the perceived trustworthiness of the hosts. The antecedents of trust in this model were defined based on insights from psychology regarding first impressions. We found that the hosts' visual characteristics (e.g., gender) as revealed in their online photographs affect their perceived trustworthiness both directly and indirectly via attractiveness. We also found that image characteristics, which are not related directly to the traits of the host in the picture (e.g., photograph quality), play a significant role in trust inference. Interestingly, the hosts' choices of their personal photos suggest that they may not be aware of these effects.     

What is Capital Flight?

This paper offers a definitive distinction between capital flight and capital outflows. It unifies and synthesises the capital flight concept as used in both theoretical and empirical work and shows that various definitions have two common elements. These are: (1) capital flight is a subset of capital outflows from developing countries by its residents; (2) these outflows must be motivated by risks and uncertainties that are peculiar to developing countries. The former points to the counter‐intuitive nature of these outflows. The latter gives these counterintuitive outflows’ explanation. We then propose an econometric method to measure this concept, and illustrate its use by applying it to Korea.